Lystrosaurus
|image = Image:Lystrosaurus BW.jpg |caption = Artist's restoration of Lystrosaurus murrayi. |class = Synapsida |order = Therapsida |suborder = Anomodontia |infraorder = Dicynodontia |family = Lystrosauridae |genus = Lystrosaurus Cope, 1870 |species = * L. murrayi Huxley, 1859 (type) * L. declivus Owen, 1860 * L. curvatus Owen, 1876 * L. mccaigi Seeley, 1898 * L. georgi Kalandadze, 1975 ----- |synonyms = * L. platyceps Seeley, 1898 * L. oviceps Haughton, 1915 }} Lystrosaurus (meaning "shovel lizard" in Greek) is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid that lived during the Late Permian and Early Triassic periods, around 250 million years ago in what is now Antarctica, India and South Africa. At present 4 to 6 species are recognized, although from the 1930s to 1970s the number of species was thought to be much higher. Lystrosaurus had only two teeth, as with all other dicynodonts, as well as a pair of tusk-like canines. Lystrosaurus is thought to have had a horny beak that was used for biting off pieces of vegetation. Lystrosaurus was a heavily-built, herbivorous animal, approximately the size of a pig. The structure of its shoulders and hip joints suggest that Lystrosaurus moved with a semi-sprawling gait. The forelimbs were even more robust than the hindlimbs, and the animal is thought to have been a powerful digger that nested in burrows. Lystrosaurus was by far the most common terrestrial vertebrate of the Early Triassic, accounting for as many as 95% of the total individuals in some fossil beds. It has often been suggested that it had anatomical features that enabled it to adapt better than most animals to the atmospheric conditions that were created by the Permian–Triassic extinction event and which persisted through the Early Triassic — low concentrations of oxygen and high concentrations of carbon dioxide. However recent research suggests that these features were no more pronounced in Lystrosaurus than in genera that perished in the extinction or genera that survived but were much less abundant than Lystrosaurus. Description Lystrosaurus was a pig-sized dicynodont therapsid, typically about 3 feet (0.91 m) long and weighing about 200 pounds (91 kg). Unlike other therapsids, dicynodonts had very short snouts and no teeth except for the tusk-like upper canines. Dicynodonts are generally thought to have had horny beaks like those of turtles, for shearing off pieces of vegetation which were then ground on a horny secondary palate when the mouth was closed. The jaw joint was weak and moved backwards and forwards with a shearing action, instead of the more common sideways or up and down movements. It is thought that the jaw muscles were attached unusually far forward on the skull and took up a lot of space on the top and back of the skull. As a result the eyes were set high and well forward on the skull, and the face was short. The lower jaw was able to slide backwards and forwards to a remarkable degree, enabling the animal to move vegetation into its mouth. It used its tusks to dig up roots and tubers, which also formed part of its diet. The nostrils of Lystrosaurus were high up on its deeply curved snout, enabling it to feed in the shallow water of its swamp and marsh habitat.[http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_781533952/lystrosaurus.html Lystrosaurus] MSN Encarta encyclopedia. Features of the skeleton indicate that Lystrosaurus moved with a semi-sprawling gait. The lower rear corner of the scapula (shoulder blade) was strongly ossified (built of strong bone), which suggests that movement of the scapula contributed to the stride length of the forelimbs and reduced the sideways flexing of the body. The five sacral vertebrae were massive but not fused to each other and to the pelvis, making the back more rigid and reducing sideways flexing while the animal was walking. Therapsids with fewer than five sacral vertebrae are thought to have had sprawling limbs, like those of modern lizards. In dinosaurs and mammals, which have erect limbs, the sacral vertebrae are fused to each other and to the pelvis. A buttress above each acetabulum (hip socket) is thought to have prevented dislocation of the femur (thigh bone) while Lystrosaurus was walking with a semi-sprawling gait. The forelimbs of Lystrosaurus were massive, and Lystrosaurus is thought to have been a powerful burrower. Distribution and species Lystrosaurus fossils have been found in many late Permian and Early Triassic terrestrial bone beds, most abundantly in Africa, and to a lesser extent in parts of what are now India, China, Mongolia, European Russia, and Antarctica (which was not over the South Pole at the time). Species found in Africa Most Lystrosaurus fossils have been found in the Balfour and Katburg Formations of the Karoo region, which is mostly in South Africa; these specimens offer the best prospects of identifying species because they are the most numerous and have been studied for the longest time. As so often with fossils, there is debate in the paleontological community as to exactly how many species have been found in the Karoo. Studies from the 1930s to 1970s suggested a large number (23 in one case). Full version online at However, by the 1980s and 1990s, only six species were recognized in the Karoo: L. curvatus, L. platyceps, L. oviceps, L. maccaigi, L. murrayi, and L. declivis. A study in 2006 reduced that number to four, treating the fossils previously labeled as L. platyceps and L. oviceps as members of L. curvatus. L. maccaigi is the largest and apparently most specialized species, while L. curvatus was the least specialized. A Lystrosaurus-like fossil, Kwazulusaurus shakai, has also been found in South Africa. Although not assigned to the same genus, K. shakai is very similar to L. curvatus. Some paleontologists have therefore proposed that K. shakai was possibly an ancestor of or closely related to the ancestors of L. curvatus, while L. maccaigi arose from a different lineage. L. maccaigi is found only in sediments from the Permian period, and apparently did not survive the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Its specialized features and sudden appearance in the fossil record without an obvious ancestor may indicate that it immigrated into the Karoo from an area in which Late Permian sediments have not been found. L. curvatus is found in a relatively narrow band of sediments from shortly before and after the extinction, and can be used as an approximate marker for the boundary between the Permian and Triassic periods. A skull identified as L. curvatus has been found in late Permian sediments from Zambia. For many years it had been thought that there were no Permian specimens of L. curvatus in the Karoo, which led to suggestions that L. curvatus immigrated from Zambia into the Karoo. However, a re-examination of Permian specimens in the Karoo has identified some as L. curvatus, and there is no need to assume immigration. L. murrayi and L. declivis are found only in Permian sediments. Lystrosaurus murrayi and Lystrosaurus declivis are found only in Permian sediments. Other species Lystrosaurus georgi fossils have been found in the Earliest Triassic sediments of the Moscow Basin in Russia. It was probably closely related to the African Lystrosaurus curvatus, which is regarded as one of the least specialized species and has been found in very Late Permian and very Early Triassic sediments. History Dr. Elias Root Beadle, a Philadelphia missionary and avid fossil collector, discovered the first Lystrosaurus skull. Beadle wrote to the eminent paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, but received no reply. Marsh's rival, Edward Drinker Cope, was very interested in seeing the find, and described and named Lystrosaurus in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society in 1870. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek words listron "shovel" and sauros "lizard". Marsh belatedly purchased the skull in May of 1871, although his interest in an already-described specimen was unclear; he may have wanted to carefully scrutinize Cope's description and illustration. Plate tectonics The discovery of Lystrosaurus fossils at Coalsack Bluff in the Transantarctic Mountains by Edwin H. Colbert and his team in 1969–70 helped confirm the theory of plate tectonics and convince the last of the doubters, since Lystrosaurus had already been found in the lower Triassic of southern Africa as well as in India and China.Naomi Lubick, Investigating the Antarctic, Geotimes, 2005. Dominance of the Early Triassic , the "mother of all mass extinctions", and why it dominated Early Triassic fauna to such an unprecedented extent. One of the more recent theories is that the Permian–Triassic extinction event reduced the atmosphere's oxygen content and increased its carbon dioxide content, so that many terrestrial species died out because they found breathing too difficult. It has therefore been suggested that Lystrosaurus survived and became dominant because its burrowing life-style made it able to cope with an atmosphere of "stale air",G.H Groenewald (1991). Burrow casts from the Lystrosaurus-''Procolophon'' Assemblage-zone, Karoo Sequence, South Africa, African Protected Area Conservation and Science 34 (1): 13-22. and that specific features of its anatomy were part of this adaptation: a barrel chest that accommodated large lungs, short internal nostrils that facilitated rapid breathing, and high neural spines (projections on the dorsal side of the vertebrae) that gave greater leverage to the muscles that expanded and contracted its chest. However, there are weaknesses in all these points: The chest of Lystrosaurus was not significantly larger in proportion to its size than in other dicynodonts that became extinct; although Triassic dicynodonts appear to have had longer neural spines than their Permian counter-parts, this feature may be related to posture, locomotion or even body size rather than respiratory efficiency; L. murrayi and L. declivis are much more abundant than other Early Triassic burrowers such as Procolophon or Thrinaxodon. The suggestion that Lystrosaurus was helped to survive and dominate by being semi-aquatic has a similar weakness:GM King, MA Cluver (1990). The aquatic Lystrosaurus: an alternative lifestyle. Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology, 1029-2381, 4 (3):323–341. although amphibians become more abundant in the Karoo's Triassic sediments, they much less numerous than L. murrayi and L. declivis. The most specialized and the largest animals are at higher risk in mass extinctions; this may explain why the non-specialized L. curvatus survived while the larger and more specialized L. maccaigi perished along with all the other large Permian herbivores and carnivores. Although Lystrosaurus generally looks adapted to feed on plants similar to Dicroidium, which dominated the Early Triassic, the larger size of L. maccaigi may have forced it to rely on the larger members of the Glossopteris flora, which did not survive the end-Permian extinction. Only the 1.5 meter (4.9 ft)-long therocephalian Moschorhinus and the large archosauriform Proterosuchus appear large enough to have preyed on the Triassic Lystrosaurus species, and this shortage of predators may have been responsible for a Lystrosaurus population boom in the Early Triassic. The survival of Lystrosaurus has also been postulated as simply being a matter of luck. See also * ''Lystrosaurus'' Assemblage Zone * List of synapsids * Evolution of mammals References External links *Palaeos.com: Dicynodontia *[http://geowords.com/histbooknetscape/i07.htm Hugh Rance, The Present is the Key to the Past: "Mammal-like reptiles of Pangea"] Category:Dicynodonts Category:Permian synapsids Category:Prehistoric synapsids of Asia Category:Prehistoric synapsids of Africa Category:Extinct animals of Antarctica Category:Triassic synapsids